NEW DELHI (AFP) - Two deadly road accidents in India's northern Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh killed at least 30 people and injured 24 others, the police said on Saturday (May 21).

An overcrowded jeep fell into a gorge 304m deep early on Saturday, killing 13 people in Kinnaur district, the police said, about 200km east of state capital Shimla.

"Thirteen people have died and one is injured. 10 of them were from one village," Mr Surinder Mohan, a local police officer, told AFP of the accident.

It followed a separate tragedy late on Friday when a passenger minibus bus swerved off a hilly road into a gorge, killing 17 and injuring 23 in the state's Chamba district.

"Seven people died on the spot and the rest died on their way to and in the hospital. Many are critically injured," police officer Ajay Parashar said.

Fatal traffic accidents are common in India, which has some of the world's deadliest roads with more than 200,000 fatalities annually, according to the World Health Organisation.